Episode 98: São Paulo, BRA – 11/14/2015

We’re finally here! Around The World has taken us to South America and what better way to start than in the biggest country, Brazil! This week we’re celebrating a Sao Paolo show from 2015 that had incredibly emotional ties to it being performed only one day after the Paris terrorist attacks. The band knows when they are in a position of power to bring people together in a time where its needed, and right from the start, Ed makes sure that 60,000 in this crowd are part of a family.

There are no lack of emotional moments in this show and that’s always apparent whenever Long Road pops in as your opener. During Love Boat Captain he has the crowd in his full grasp capturing an incredible moment where he goes back n forth at the end repeating the word love. The emotion continues when the approach Come Back and then again in the encore for Imagine, Sirens, I Am Mine and Black. The healing power of all these songs are immeasurable and you can feel the crowd attaching themselves to every moment.

Not only did they have to battle the state of the world, they also had to battle the weather conditions of the night. Ed even quips during Lightning Bolt by saying it’s a clear night tonight just for the Gods of rock n roll to strike down upon the stage with rain and major windstorms. In a moment of turbulence, Ed calms the crowd with a beautiful rendition of Elderly Woman giving them a spotlight while the rest of the band takes safety precautions. The rain would continue to come down, most notably during Better Man where it looked as if bullets were dropping from the sky.

And as always, the crowds are what make these Brazil shows so good. Getting amazing sing-alongs on Do The Evolution, Jeremy and RVM are the reasons why the band keeps going back down there for more.

Thanks to Black Circle for joining us, we included a byte from their episode that we saved for this one talking about some of their favorite Brazil show moments. And thanks to fan page Pearl Jam To Fly for selecting a great show for us to discuss!